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State aid schemes for the beef, pig, and poultry sectors

Emergency Ordinance (OUG) no.51 on the establishment of a state aid scheme to support the activity of farmers in the cattle, pig and poultry sectors in the context of the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic was published in the Official Gazette no.393 of 21 April 2022, with applicability from the date of publication.

The act regulates the species, beneficiaries, eligibility criteria, supporting documents, duration of the scheme and amount of state aid, as well as the procedural rules for the implementation of the state aid scheme.

State aid is granted for the following categories of beneficiaries:

  • in the cattle sector, to natural persons, legal persons, individual or family enterprises, authorised natural persons, who, in 2022, are engaged in cattle breeding;
  • in the pig sector, farmers who are legal entities, as well as individual enterprises, family enterprises or authorised natural persons, as the case may be, who, in 2021, were engaged in fattening and/or breeding pigs on holdings approved for veterinary purposes;
  • in the poultry sector, individual and family poultry breeders, authorised natural persons, where applicable, and legal persons who, in 2021, were engaged in the breeding of young and adult poultry and/or the hatching and/or rearing of poultry for meat or the rearing of replacement young and adult chickens for consumption in holdings approved for veterinary purposes.

In order to be granted State aid, the beneficiaries mentioned above 3 must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. they must be registered in the single identification register, hereinafter referred to as RUI, and have a unique registration code assigned by the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture, hereinafter referred to as APIA;
  2. not to be in reorganization, liquidation or bankruptcy as of 31 December 2019, according to the records of the National Trade Registry Office (ONRC), or in the case of natural persons, no final decision of the courts has been issued declaring bankruptcy by 31 December 2019;
  3. to hold, at the date of submission of the application, cattle on the holding with a code assigned by the National Veterinary Health and Food Safety Authority, hereinafter referred to as ANSVSA, registered in the RNE, for the category referred to in Article 3(a);
  4. have, at the date of submission of the application, a holding with veterinary approval for the categories provided for in Article 3(b) and (c) – pig and poultry sectors.

The estimated beneficiaries of this state aid scheme will be about 95,000 cattle farmers and about 600 farmers in the pig and poultry sectors.

The maximum total amount of the state aid scheme is 453.899 million lei and is distributed as follows:

  1. a)250 million lei for the cattle sector;
  2. b)649 million lei for the pig sector;
  3. c) 116 million lei for the

In the bovine sector, state aid is granted to beneficiaries, in order to compensate for losses caused by the pandemic in the first half of 2022, for a minimum of 3 head of cattle aged 16 months or more on 31 January 2022, to which may be added cattle aged 7 months or more on 31 January 2022, on holdings with an ANSVSA code, registered in the RNE.

The amount per head is calculated by applying the limit to the total number of eligible cattle.

In the pig sector, state aid is granted to beneficiaries as follows:

  1. for production capacity under minimum welfare conditions held in 2021, equivalent to UVM, depending on the categories of pigs, i.e. fattening pigs and/or sows and mounted sows, hereinafter referred to as female breeding animals, in order to maintain the holding in good technological condition;
  2. for herds of pigs, UVM equivalent, i.e. the average annual herd for the year 2021/average annual herd eligible under Measure 14 – Fattening of animals in 2021 for the category of female breeding animals and/or the herd delivered in 2021/the herd eligible under Measure 14 – Fattening of animals in 2021 for the category of fattening pigs.

The amount of state aid in the pig sector is 10 euro/UVM, equivalent in lei for production capacity under minimum welfare conditions. For pig herds, equivalent to UVM, it is calculated as follows: (i) the total value of the minimum welfare production capacity, UVM equivalent, is deducted from the limit; (ii) the amount resulting from the calculation in point (i) is divided by the total number of eligible pigs, UVM equivalent.

In the poultry sector, the amount per UVM is calculated by relating the allocated limit to the total number of eligible poultry, UVM equivalent, and to the total production capacity of the hatcheries, UVM equivalent.

State aid to support the activity of poultry farmers is granted as follows:

  1. for poultry flocks, UVM equivalent, i.e. the average annual flock of heavy breed hens/ laying hens for the year 2021/the average annual flock of heavy breed hens/ laying hens eligible under Measure 14 – Animal Welfare in the year 2021 and/or the flock of broilers over 35 days old and/or turkey chicks over 71 days old, delivered in 2021/the herd eligible under Measure 14 – Animal fattening in 2021 and/or the average annual number of young breeding stock for 2021 and/or the average annual number of replacement young laying hens for 2021;
  2.  for the production capacity held in 2021, UVM equivalent, for a series of hatching chicks.

The conversion of pig herds/pastures into UVM shall be carried out according to the conversion coefficients laid down in Annex 1 to Regulation (EU) 2018/1.091 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 concerning integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1.166/2008 and (EU) No 1.337/2011 respectively:

  • for the scheme provided for in Article 5(2): 0,3 UVM for fattening pigs, 0,5 UVM for breeding animals – sows and gilts;
  • for the scheme provided for in Article 5(3): 0,007 UVM for broilers and hatchlings, 0,03 UVM for turkey chicks and 0,014 UVM for replacement and laying hens, breeding hens and heavy breed hens.

The total amount of aid granted to a beneficiary may not exceed the equivalent in RON of EUR 290 000.

Please note that the State aid provided for by the EMERGENCY ORDINANCE 51/2022 is cumulated with other forms of support granted in accordance with section 3.1 of the EC Communication, including State aid approved by the EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no.149/2020 on the establishment of a State aid scheme to support the activity of cattle breeders in the context of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, approved with amendments by Law no.19 /2021, EMERGENCY ORDINANCE No 150/2020 approving the State aid scheme to support the activity of pig farmers in the context of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, approved with amendments by Law No 20/2021, EMERGENCY ORDINANCE No 151 /2020 on the approval of the State aid scheme to support the activity of poultry breeders in the context of the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, approved with amendments by Law no. 21/2021, EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no.205/2020 on the approval of the State aid scheme to support the activity of wine producers in the context of the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, approved by Law no.122 /2021, as well as by the EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 58/2021 on the establishment of a state aid scheme to support the activity of cattle breeders, in 2021, in the context of the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 34/2022, without exceeding the equivalent in lei of 290,000 euro for the same beneficiary.

The exchange rate euro / lira for calculating the maximum total amount / amount is the one established by the National Bank of Romania, valid on the date of entry into force of this Emergency Ordinance.

Please note that the period for submitting applications for state aid is 20 days, starting from the day following the entry into force of the normative act.

State aid will be paid until 30 June 2022. No payments will be granted after 30 June 2022 if it is established that they could not be made for a cause attributable to the beneficiary, namely the non-declaration of a valid account at APIA.

From the date of receipt of the European Commission’s decision approving the granting of state aid, the beneficiary’s eligibility is established and the obligation to pay this state aid can be established.

Legal basis:

  • EMERGENCY ORDINANCE 51/2022 on the establishment of a state aid scheme to support the activity of farmers in the cattle, pig and poultry sectors in the context of the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic
  • https://www.cursbnr.ro/curs-valutar-bnr